I told the pilot not to go so fast to pull the jet stream down here on you guys, but it didn't work. It got cold anyways. And you can't blame Todd this time, because I was here before he was.

So thankful to be back among our brethren that we love so dearly here. Good to see everyone, all the familiar faces. And some I haven't particularly. I don't know who you are. So I'll be looking forward to getting to know you, hopefully.

Your brethren up in Pennsylvania sends their love. They wanted me to tell everybody, say hi, and I said I would. I'm thankful that no matter where we go in this world, we can say like David said, if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. So whether it's Florida, he's the same God in Florida as he is in Pennsylvania. He's the same God in Kentucky. And whatever church you may be from, he's the same God. He reigns sovereign and supreme. He is the successful redeemer of his chosen people. And that's who I would like to declare to you this hour.

Turn with me, if you would, Romans chapter 9. When Todd said Romans, my heart dropped because Sean kept talking about the Lord's faithfulness last night. And that's the title for tomorrow's message. And I found out that Marvin Stoniker preached a message on my text for tomorrow about a week ago here. So that's what the Lord gives. Declare it again. I'm glad it never gets old.

I have this hour three critical questions. That's what I've titled this message. Three critical questions that our Lord asked. Let's read Romans chapter eight and we'll start reading at verse 14. I'm sorry, Romans chapter nine. And we'll start reading at verse 14 through 24.

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee. and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore, hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? hath not the hotter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called? not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.

There's one thing that the Lord's people are made to know, that if the Lord does not do all of the saving, all of the calling, and all of the keeping, we won't be saved. If he doesn't do all of the electing, none will be saved, as Todd's already said this morning. We're made to know that God is absolutely sovereign, and we put words with sovereign, but it stands alone by itself as sovereign, as supreme. Our God's self-sufficient. He doesn't ask man for anything. He doesn't need from you and I. He told the disciples, if I was hungry, I wouldn't tell you about it. I wouldn't ask you for food. Our Lord is sovereign, and he is seated as the successful redeemer of his people. The Lord's people are made to know that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Todd was asking the question, am I saved? And if you begin to examine yourself to his point, I fear for you. But the Lord's people are made to look to Christ alone. Look to Christ alone as all of their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

And as we're looking here in Romans chapter 9, we're seeing some of his character. the power that he has, the supremacy that he has, the unchangeableness of his power. And it is with that same power that he resurrected Christ with that he saves his people. He regenerates his people, as we heard Sean last night.

Our Lord is Alpha, and he is Omega. He is Omega. And that means that he is the first part of salvation, and he is the last part of salvation, and he's everything in between. A lot of people will say that he's the alpha and omega, but they don't believe it. They'll say, well, he's the omega, meaning he keeps me after I'm saved, but I have to do my part in order to be saved. Well, that means you're the alpha. Or they say, well, he has to save me first, but it's up to me to make sure I live a good life in order to continue to please him, or I could lose my salvation. Well, that makes you the omega. He's the alpha. and Omega. He is the first and the last. He is the author and finisher of faith. This is who our God is.

I told our people something recently because we had a guest come to service and they kind of challenged me after asking questions and whatever and was kind of rude. And he said, you have to make a choice. You have to make a choice in salvation. And I said, sir, salvation is a choice. You're absolutely right. It's just not mine or yours. It is God's choice to save whom he will, to have mercy on whom he will have mercy. And thank God he chose to say, I will have mercy. I will. That's good news if you find yourself a sinner, that he will have mercy. If not, none would be saved.

The reason is, is our depravity. We are completely depraved from birth. The scripture tells us we are born in sin, we're shapen in iniquity. We've already heard this from Todd, but our heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. There's none good, no not one. As bad as you can think we are, we're worse. We can never really understand how bad our sin is. We can see what it costs by looking at the cross of Calvary, but we can't understand because we're in the flesh. And that's what our flesh is, is sin. Our nature is sin. And sin is not what we do, it's what we are. That's why we do it. A dog does not become a dog once it barks. It barks because it is a dog. I sin because I'm a sinner and I need a savior.

And this is, I guess you could call this the introduction. I haven't got to the three questions yet. I know that. But we have to see first and foremost that God is absolutely sovereign and you and I are totally lost. He's absolutely sovereign. You and I are totally lost without hope in ourself. Everything pertaining to salvation is by divine revelation. And I love the fact that over in the book of Revelation, the very first chapter, it says the revelation of Jesus Christ. You know how many books have been written on revelation and how much study time has happened and how many services? I saw a sign this week, they were talking about, come with us as we look at the prophecies and revelation this week. It's speaking of Christ and people don't see that, they can't, they can't. Revelation, and when the Lord reveals himself, we say with the blind man, this one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see, now I see.

The Lord asked Ezekiel, can these bones live? Over in Ezekiel 37, and what did Ezekiel say? Lord, thou knowest. If they're gonna live, you're gonna have to do it. I can't do it. Man, they're very dry. That's us by nature, isn't it? Very dry, dead bones. I tell my congregation that we're dead dog sinners. We're dead dog sinners needing a savior, needing a savior. If he doesn't come to where we are and speak the words of life, revealing Christ as he is to us, as we are giving us repentance and faith, none will be saved.

Which brings us to our three critical questions. And the only way to believe these questions or answer these questions is if God has given us the faith of Jesus Christ to believe him. The first question is, whom do you say that I am? Whom do you say that I am? The second question is, wilt thou be made whole? And the last question is, whom do you seek? And I pray by the time that this hour is over that we will see our Savior and that we will hear his gospel and rejoice.

So turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 16. Whom do ye say that I am? Matthew 16, verses 13 to 20. When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some say Elias, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loose in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

He asked them, whom do's men? He asked first, who does men say that I am? And they said, well, some of the prophets, or maybe John the Baptist. And he said, whom do you? say that I am. Salvation is a personal matter. It's a personal matter. It doesn't matter what other people say that Jesus Christ, who he is. What matters is, is the Lord gives you the faith to say with the Ethiopian eunuch, I believe that Christ is the son of God. I believe that like Peter, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And he tells how, tells us how that's given by the father, by the father. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood have not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

This is the divine revelation that God gives to every one of his elect sheep. Most of mankind draw the natural conclusion that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but not the fullness of the Godhead bodily. They'll say, oh yeah, Jesus was the son of God. They'll say that, but they don't believe it the way that he is. Whenever we say that, we're saying that Jesus is God, manifests in the flesh. We're saying he's not just part holy. He was absolutely holy. We're not saying he would just part man and part God. He was 100% man and 100% God. The only way to believe that's by faith. There's no other way to believe that. A lot of the mysteries in the gospel That's how you have to believe them is by faith alone. It can't be explained. The reason that most believe in a fabricated Jesus or a Jesus that doesn't exist is because man doesn't have the capacity to believe in the flesh anything about God. It takes faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It takes faith to take God at his word. It takes faith to believe this word as it is. Otherwise, it's just black and white. It's not going to make any difference for us if the Lord doesn't give us faith. He must give us faith to believe.

Scripture tells us why men cannot see Christ, he told the Pharisees, search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which speak of me. And we know why, because they that are in the flesh cannot please God. They cannot mind the things of the spirit, because they're spiritual, and the spirit and the flesh is enmity against one another. God has to give us a new heart. He has to give us faith. He has to cause us to believe on him, or we will never Never believe. He gets all the glory in it.

Think about this. When they brought the Lord to Simeon in the temple on the eighth day after his birth, they hand, it doesn't say exactly what they did. All I know is what the scripture says. And it says that as soon as Simeon saw him, he says, now mine eyes have seen the Lord's salvation. Now, how many people passed by that baby? Think about that. How many people would have been in the temple? How many people did the, we're going to talk about this a little later on too, but how many people did the Lord in his earthly ministry walk past and they couldn't see him? They didn't know who he was. Did you know that if he was present right here in the flesh, our flesh wouldn't be able to pick him out from somebody else. It's impossible. It's impossible. Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you, Peter, but my Father which is in heaven. This is the gift of God unto eternal life, the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So who do you say he is? That's the question. Who do you say he is? Is he a powerless Jesus that can't do anything unless you allow him to? Is he a dependent Jesus upon you that unless you do something to make his work effectual, then it won't be effectual? Or is he the King of kings and Lord of lords that reigns supreme, the one that put away the sin of his people by the sacrifice of himself, the one that is seated at the right hand of the father because he was a successful redeemer, successful savior? If you can say that with the heart of faith, if you can say thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, just like Peter, with the heart of faith, God's the doer of that. Did you know we get no glory in salvation whatsoever and we love it that way? We love it that way. I don't want any glory in this salvation. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be all glory, all honor, and all praise.

Do you know why that is, believers feel that way? They've been made to see how wretched and how vile they truly are, and how beautiful and glorious He is. He alone speaks the word of life. He alone is responsible for the salvation of His people, and that's all glory to Him. So who do you say He is? Is He dependent upon you and I? No. No, he's completely independent. He's completely sovereign. I like what Nebuchadnezzar's conclusion came to. You know, when the Lord puts us in the dirt and shows us what we are, he made him a beast. Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up in pride. He said, is this not great Babylon, which I have made? And what's interesting about that is he just saw, just a few chapters before, he had just saw the four in the fire. He saw the fourth man in the fire. They threw three Hebrew men into the fire because they wouldn't bow down and worship. And he saw 40, he actually confessed this, the fourth was like the son of God.

And now, just a couple chapters later, it wasn't unto salvation, because he went out and he said, look at great Babylon that I have created. And the Lord took the kingdom from him for seven years and made him a beast. And he ate grass, and his hair grew as feathers, it says, and his nails grew as claws. And then the Lord gave him his mind back. And you know what he said? He said, now I will extol and praise the God of glory. He's God, I'm not. None can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He is God. This is who he is. Who do you say he is? He's God. He is God. And if you can believe that by faith, you're a believer.

Second question is, will thou be made whole? Turn with me to John chapter 5. This is a familiar passage of the Pool of Bethesda, the impotent man that couldn't get into the pool, because he didn't have the ability to have anybody that could help him. Let's read it together. John chapter 5, verse 1.

After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. And in these lay a great multitude of impetuous folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at the certain season, into the pool, and troubled the water. Whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he said unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered, Sir, I have no man. when the water is troubled to put me into the pool. But while I am coming, another stepping down before me. Jesus saith unto him, rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked. And on the same day was the Stabbath.

So the angel of the Lord would come down once a season and stir the water. And the first one that got into the water would be healed. Now they are at, they're at Jerusalem, just had to double check. They're at Jerusalem, so it's a feast, so there's gonna be a lot of people there. But they don't talk, the Lord didn't give us any insight that he talked to anybody else in that particular vicinity. This is gonna be a place where many infidel people, many sick people, many unwell people would be because this was a place they knew they could get healed. But you don't read about him going to anybody else. He passes by this one, and he passes by that one, and he passes by this one, and he goes straight to this one man. Why? The same reason he passed by so many, and yet chose to elect and save some unto eternal life. Because it's his purpose, his will. He's God. He's God. So here we have the stirring of the water as a picture of how the Lord takes by his gospel, by his spirit, and he stirs that gospel within us that we may be cleansed of our sin. He makes us alive unto eternal life.

But notice this man's state. This is important. He's helpless. He's absolutely helpless. He's impotent. He doesn't have strength. That's what impotent means. He's without strength. He cannot help himself. Can you say that when it comes to salvation? Spiritually speaking, are you helpless? Well, we're a little worse than that until the Lord comes and regenerates us. We're dead. Yes, that's a little worse than helpless. I mean, we're not even breathing. That's the picture here is this man was unable to get to the pool to get help.

And the Lord comes to him and says, Will thou be made whole? Don't you love our Lord's questions? Did he ask a question because he didn't know the answer to it? Has he ever asked a question that he didn't know the answer to? No, he's sovereign, he's omnipotent, meaning he knows everything all the time and he's omnipresent. He's omnipresent, he's everywhere all the time. Nothing gets by him, he's God.

Will thou be made whole? No, the questions our Lord asks are for the purpose of drawing a confession out of you and I. Go to draw a confession out of you and I. Wilt thou be made whole? Sir, I have no man. I have no man. Number one, I have no man here that can help me. I can't help myself. Number two, nobody else can help me. Nobody else is gonna help me. This is the confession of every single sinner that the Lord comes to and reveals their sin, giving them faith and repentance. They say, sir, I have no man. I have no man.

Don't you love the fact that the Lord shuts us up to the Lord Jesus Christ right then and there, points to him, points to him. He said, wilt thou be made whole? And the man said, sir, I have no man. The Lord didn't even elaborate on his statement. He did the same thing whenever he told Nicodemus, you must be born again. Nicodemus came to him at night, and Nicodemus said, master, rabbi, we know that you're a man sent from God, because only a man sent from God could do the things that you do. And he looked at Nicodemus and said, you must be born again. I mean, he didn't even acknowledge what Nicodemus had said. Same thing here. What does he say? Take up thy bed and walk. And immediately, immediately he walked.

This account is us by nature. We can't help ourself. We're depraved. We're fallen. No son of Adam can help us either. It's got to be God if we are going to be made whole, if we are going to be healed, if we are going to be saved. It's got to be Him from start to finish, from start to finish. We're completely dead. When the Lord, what do I mean by start to finish? Well, if we try to do anything, add to or take away anything from the cross, we're We're making ourself void of what we're doing. We cannot add to or take away from the finished work of the cross.

A good example of that is my wife and I have started canning. And she's going to probably fuss at me later for telling you this. So we have a garden. We've just been kind of homesteading, I guess you could say. But we have racks of cans of stuff, food. I didn't know that you're not supposed to touch the cans whenever they just come out. I thought maybe if you push the button on the top, it might be a good thing. It's not. You ruin it completely, it won't seal. I got slapped by my wife for that. I ruined an entire batch of beans because I did not know. I'll never do that again.

But when it comes to salvation, is it not true that if we put our hand to it, we've tainted it? No. Don't touch it. Don't touch it. From start to finish, it has to be God that saves us. It has to be God that preserves us. We don't preserve ourself. It's got to be the Lord.

The question is, will thou be made whole? Well, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. He said, I come not to call the righteous, but sinners. to repentance. He came to this impotent man who had no hope of helping himself for a purpose, for his own glory, for his own praise. And he says to him, wilt thou be made whole? That's what he does to every single elect child of God. He comes right to where we are and says, wilt thou be made whole? And he draws that confession. Sir, I have no man. I have no man. And he says, live, live.

In the book of Second Kings, chapter 5, Naaman's a Syrian. He's a captain of the guard. He's honorable. He is a mighty man in valor, it says, but he was a leper. He was a leper. Naaman had a lot of problems being the captain of Syria. But when he became a leper, he had one problem. When you and I are made to see our sin, we have one problem, one problem. My sin is what separates us. It's what the Lord said, your sin has separated you from me.

Well, Naaman found out there was a prophet in Israel because of the maid that he had that was a Jew. And Naaman had it all figured out. Well, I'm going to get healed of this leprosy. I'm going to go down there, and I'm going to talk to that prophet. And he goes down with a great band. He has a lot of gifts to give. He has a lot of things to bring. And he brings all of this stuff and comes. What's ironic, the prophet doesn't even come out to meet him. He sends his servant, the messenger, and he says, go tell Naaman to dip seven times in Jordan. Seven times in Jordan.

And Naaman was wroth. Naaman was wroth, the scripture says. And you know what he said? He says the same thing you and I say that gets us in a lot of trouble. I thought. I thought. That's what he said. prophet would come out and he would call upon his God and it would be miraculous, I thought. But no, no he had to go dip in the River Jordan seven times. Seven's the number of perfection and the River Jordan represents death. If you want to be made whole, if you want to be made whole, you had to die the death with Christ perfectly. You had to die with him. That's what that's a picture of. That's the only way to get rid of your leprosy. That's the only way you get rid of your leprosy.

And we are lepers from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet. You know what I do love about that, though, is whenever a priest would see someone that would present themself, if they were a leper from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet and there was nothing but white, they were declared clean. Isn't that glorious? They were declared clean. The only way that you're going to be made whole is if the Lord reveals unto you and I, the only way I'm going to be made whole is if he reveals to me that we're completely Lepers that there's nothing good in us whatsoever that we need the Savior then when the Lord says will thou be made whole effectually We'll beg for it. We'll beg him Lord. I can't do it. I have no man save me save me Notice it doesn't say anything about the Lord healing anybody else here doesn't mention healing anybody else After this The Jews came to him because they were upset that he healed on the Sabbath, but it doesn't say anything else about him healing anybody else.

God's salvation is to a particular people for his particular purpose, all for his glory, all for his glory. Somebody said, well, that's not very fair that he didn't heal other people. It's glorious that he healed one. He didn't have to do that. If it's a will of God, of course he did, but you understand what I'm saying. We can't constrain him or restrain him. We can't obligate him to do anything, is the point that I'm trying to make. Can't make him do anything.

He comes directly to us and says, live, and we become alive. Now, our question to us is, do you see your sin, your weakness, your empathy, that you are impotent? Will thou be made whole? If so, God has to be the doer of it. And that brings us to our last question. Whom do you seek? Whom do you seek?

Turn with me to John 18. This is right after the Garden of Gethsemane he had prayed all night. This is where they're taking the Lord to be put on trial. And let's read verse one through nine.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Kidron, where was a garden, into the which he entered in his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place, for Jesus oftentimes resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from chief priests and Pharisees, cometh hither With lanterns and torches and weapons, Jesus, therefore knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto him, I am. You see that word he? That's in italics. He said, I am. Just like he said, I am to Moses. He said, I am. and they went backwards and fell to the ground.

Then he asked them again, whom do you seek? Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, he answered, I have told you that I am, if therefore you seek me, let these go their way, that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, of them which thou gavest me, have I lost none. When he said, I am, they all fell backwards. Now, I don't know if they hit their head or what happened to make them get back up and continue. We know it was the purpose of God, but think about getting knocked over by the power of the Lord and then getting back up and still coming forward to try to apprehend him. I mean, they were crazy to attempt to do that.

But here's the picture that we have of how most approach God. And Todd touched on this a little bit. Men want to bring up Christ from below or bring him down from above. They want to apprehend Christ. They want to possess him by force, their way. I got, you know what you won't hear a believer ever say? I got saved. You didn't get saved. If you're saved, God saved you. Salvation's of the Lord.

No, it's, Not that we try to come to him and apprehend him by something that we do, by a prayer that we pray, by a life that we live, by any memorization of things. Nothing like that at all. We don't try to apprehend him. The believer wants to be apprehended of him. I need to be apprehended of him. I don't want somebody to say, well, you just need to grab ahold of the Lord's hand. No, I need him to grab ahold of me. I don't know where to reach to if I was going to grab ahold of him. I need him to reach to me.

Today, brethren, we see a Jesus that is preached that is weak. He doesn't exist. He's a figment of imagination. He cannot save people unless they allow him to. That's not God. That's not the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a made up fairy tale Jesus that has no power that does not exist.

But he's very, very popular because they say, do this and you're guaranteed to go to heaven. I have a coworker that came up to me and I invited him to service. Uh, not this one, of course, back in, back at home. And they said, and he said these words and it really, it really troubled me. He said, if I come to your service, can you guarantee I'll go to heaven? And that, that really burdened me. I told, obviously I told him, no, I said, no, only the Lord knows who were his. I said, but I can promise you, if you never hear the gospel, you won't. So come here. Come here. I told him the story about the woman at the well. Come see a man that told me all things ever I did is just not the Christ. He still hasn't came yet, but the whole point I was making is he wanted to know if he did something, would it guarantee him heaven? And that's men's mentality. I've done this. I've checked off this box. I've dotted this I. I've crossed this T. You know what the common denominator is with all of those statements? I. I.

God's gospel points to Christ and Christ alone. It doesn't point to me and you. We're the benefactors of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're the recipients. We're not the doers of it. We didn't supply anything. He didn't ask us for our counsel. We didn't give him anything. He took our sin. Salvation's of the Lord. It's not of man. It's not what we do

So if we're seeking him by force, we're not gonna have him. We're not gonna have him. He's God You can't we can't take him by force as I just said about Nicodemus or Nebuchadnezzar None can stay his hand or saying to him. What doest thou he's God? Are we trying to take him by force or are we seeking his face because of God revealed Jesus Christ to us, how that he successfully redeemed his people, how that he alone lived a perfect life that you and I could never live, how he alone drank the cup of damnation that was due us, died the death that was due to us, made to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Has the Lord revealed that to you? Then whenever you seek him, you seek him as a mercy beggar. You don't seek to take him by force. You come to him saying, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. That's what that publican was doing. He was seeking Christ, but he was begging for mercy. That's the difference. Some seek him by force, some seek him for mercy. And God is the doer of it. If the Lord has given you the cry in your heart, have mercy on me, the sinner, God's the doer of it and gets all the glory.

Our Lord was forsaken and rejected of men. Worse than that, He was forsaken of the Father so that you and I would never have to be forsaken. We would never have to be forsaken. He bore our sin and His body on the tree and put those sin away, cast them as far as the east is from the west for every single person He was dying for. Is this whom you're seeking? This Jesus? He was the successful Redeemer of his people. He was successful in election. He was successful in redemption. He's successful in regeneration and he's successful in keeping all by his power. He is God, salvations of the Lord. Christ is all in salvation.

I was talking to somebody recently about the Lord bearing our sorrow on the tree. the Lord bearing our shame on the tree, and the Lord bearing our guilt on the tree. The word in Isaiah 53 verse six, iniquity, the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all. That's the same word as guilt. It's the same word as guilt. You know what that means? The sinless, perfect, spotless lamb of God that was offered up was bearing our sin in his body on the tree that you and I would be made the very righteousness of God in him. We're no longer guilty. We're no longer guilty. We're no longer condemned.

This is who we seek, the Lord Jesus Christ, the sovereign, successful Redeemer. I love the command that Paul gives. The Lord gave to Paul, we can come boldly to the throne of grace, that we might obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. We come and seek the only grace giver, the mercy giver. We come and seek refuge. We come and seek him who is. Whom do you seek? The Lord Jesus Christ.

Blind Bartimaeus sat by the wayside begging and he heard that Jesus Christ was passing by and he knew that Jesus Christ would heal him, had the ability to heal him. And he would have salt after him, but he couldn't see. He's blind. So he just cried out, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they begin to shush him. They told him to be quiet. You're bothering the master. And that didn't stop him. Why? Because he was seeking mercy from God. He was seeking mercy from God. Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And he said, bring him to me.

And I love the fact that blind Bartimaeus left his robe there. That's a type of self-righteousness that gets completely left behind whenever the Lord calls you to himself. The Lord said unto him, what would you have me do unto you? He said that I might receive my sight. And you know the rest of the story. He was able, the Lord healed him. The Lord healed him. This is how he does for every one of his elect children. He brings us If we're supposed to go somewhere, he'll be the one that brings us, because we're blind. We're dead, remember? Dead man can't do anything, except for stink and rot. So he has to do everything. He has to do everything, and he does. He brings his light to us, and it shines in darkness. And that darkness can't comprehend it, so it flees away. He gives life unto his people. He gives sight. He gives ears. This is who we seek. the one that brings life, the one that is our life.

Now in closing, go back to Romans chapter nine with me. Let's read our text one more time in light of what we've heard. I want to read two more verses we didn't read before. This is the sovereignty of our Lord and salvation. Verse 11. For the children not yet being born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth.

Thou wilt say then unto me, why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing form say to the him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor?

What if God willing to show his wrath and to make known to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also the Gentiles.

Whom do you say Jesus Christ is? Whom do you say Jesus Christ is, wilt thou be made whole? And whom do you seek? Whom do you seek? It's life and death. Those questions are life and death. I pray the Lord blesses it.

John chapter 6, our Lord said that no man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him. And the people said, this is a hard saying. Who can hear it? And they went away. And the Lord looked at the disciples and he said, will you go also? Peter said, to whom shall we go? To whom shall we go? Thou alone hast the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Christ, the son of the living God.

Caleb, thank you, brother. Thank you, Todd. Just that verse in Romans chapter eight, how shall they call upon him in whom they've not believed? For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Calling on Christ is the evidence of faith. How shall they call upon him in whom they have not already believed? Calling is the evidence of faith, not the cause of it. Oh, what a gospel.

We're going to close with a hymn and enjoy lunch together. I hope you can stay. There's plenty of food over in the other building. So let's stand together, Tom. 268. Billy Argaropoulos. Where's Billy? Billy, if you will close the service in prayer and pray for our meal together, just from where you are, be fine after we say, okay, thank you.